Phone Units Join in Effort for Seamless Wireless Net

By BARNABY J. FEDER

Published: January 14, 2003

Motorola , Proxim and Avaya are expected to announce today that they will jointly develop technology to allow wireless communications to jump between networks without interruption.

If the three companies are successful, an executive could begin downloading data using a wireless hub in a Starbucks , airport or other public site and move to a company office without interrupting the transfer. Similarly, a phone call that began over a company's internal voice-over-Internet network could move to a public carrier as the user of the cellphone left the building.

Analysts briefed on the plans said the partnership would face daunting technical hurdles, including reconciling the different security levels and frequency levels in different wireless networks. Analysts called it the most ambitious wireless roaming plan yet to try to take advantage of the spread of communication hubs based on a standard called 802.11, known as Wi-Fi. The hubs, also called hot spots, are either free to any user of a mobile device with a Wi-Fi card who happens to be in the neighborhood or are limited to subscribers, depending on who operates them.

Most Wi-Fi networks have focused on transfer of e-mail messages and other forms of data from laptop computers but the goal of the three companies is to offer seamless transitions to cellphone users as well.

"The way hot spots are evolving, it could take a lot of traffic off of traditional wireless networks," said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects, who is among the analysts briefed by the companies.

In an unrelated development, Motorola said yesterday that it had made an offer to acquire the 26 percent of Next Level Communications it does not own for $30 million, or $1.04 a share.

Next Level, based in Rohnert Park, Calif., makes equipment to send video and other broadband communications through copper phone lines at very high speeds. Next Level was among the hottest stocks of the Internet bubble after going public at $20 a share in late 1999, with shares soaring as high as $195.75 the next March. The company was controlled by General Instrument, which Motorola acquired in January 2000.

Next Level shares fell sharply in 2000 when large phone companies failed to choose its technology as their main weapon in competing with cable companies to offer high-speed Internet connections. While the technology offers high performance over existing wires, it can reach customers only within a short distance of central switching offices.

Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., said it had provided more than $200 million in subsidies and financial guarantees to keep Next Level afloat. It said that taking Next Level private would remove financial pressure and allow Next Level to continue to develop and sell products. But analysts said the main reason for the move would be to simplify shutting down or selling Next Level while Motorola concentrated on increasing its investments in wireless technologies like the ones it will work on with Proxim and Avaya.

Motorola does not need Next Level's approval to complete the takeover, said J. Michael Norris, the chairman and chief executive of Next Level.

otorola , Proxim and Avaya are expected to announce today that they will jointly develop technology to allow wireless communications to jump between networks without interruption.

If the three companies are successful, an executive could begin downloading data using a wireless hub in a Starbucks , airport or other public site and move to a company office without interrupting the transfer. Similarly, a phone call that began over a company's internal voice-over-Internet network could move to a public carrier as the user of the cellphone left the building.

Analysts briefed on the plans said the partnership would face daunting technical hurdles, including reconciling the different security levels and frequency levels in different wireless networks. Analysts called it the most ambitious wireless roaming plan yet to try to take advantage of the spread of communication hubs based on a standard called 802.11, known as Wi-Fi. The hubs, also called hot spots, are either free to any user of a mobile device with a Wi-Fi card who happens to be in the neighborhood or are limited to subscribers, depending on who operates them.

Most Wi-Fi networks have focused on transfer of e-mail messages and other forms of data from laptop computers but the goal of the three companies is to offer seamless transitions to cellphone users as well.

"The way hot spots are evolving, it could take a lot of traffic off of traditional wireless networks," said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects, who is among the analysts briefed by the companies.

In an unrelated development, Motorola said yesterday that it had made an offer to acquire the 26 percent of Next Level Communications it does not own for $30 million, or $1.04 a share.

Next Level, based in Rohnert Park, Calif., makes equipment to send video and other broadband communications through copper phone lines at very high speeds. Next Level was among the hottest stocks of the Internet bubble after going public at $20 a share in late 1999, with shares soaring as high as $195.75 the next March. The company was controlled by General Instrument, which Motorola acquired in January 2000.

Next Level shares fell sharply in 2000 when large phone companies failed to choose its technology as their main weapon in competing with cable companies to offer high-speed Internet connections. While the technology offers high performance over existing wires, it can reach customers only within a short distance of central switching offices.

Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., said it had provided more than $200 million in subsidies and financial guarantees to keep Next Level afloat. It said that taking Next Level private would remove financial pressure and allow Next Level to continue to develop and sell products. But analysts said the main reason for the move would be to simplify shutting down or selling Next Level while Motorola concentrated on increasing its investments in wireless technologies like the ones it will work on with Proxim and Avaya.

Motorola does not need Next Level's approval to complete the takeover, said J. Michael Norris, the chairman and chief executive of Next Level.